New state report cards

District gets mostly top grades, but there is area for improvement

After receiving the top rating on the state report card for the past nine years, Dublin City Schools pulled mostly As and Bs on the latest ranking.

The state is shifting to a new letter grading system on the annual state report card and districts will not receive an overall ranking until 2015, but Dublin did score high on most measurements, with the exception of a new area that examines the achievement gap between different subgroups of students.

"First off, I'm very proud of the scores and data that came out," Superintendent Todd Hoadley said. "The 'performance index' score is at an all-time high."

The state lays out 24 different performance indicators to meet on the report cards and Dublin City Schools met everyone, earning an "A" grade on that portion on the report card.

The performance indicators measure whether enough students perform proficiently or better on state tests such as math and reading achievement tests for third graders.

For both the four- and five-year graduation rate, Dublin City Schools earned an "A," with graduation rates above 90 percent for the report card measurement.

On the 2012-13 report card, the district earned a 107.5 performance index score, or "B." The performance index score measures the achievement of every student in the district and awards more points for higher scores on state tests. The better the students score, the higher the district's score.

Dublin City School's performance index score is up 0.5 from last year and Hoadley said he is happy to see it reach the highest score yet.

"It's at an all-time high and student growth is good," he said.

On the overall "value added" measurement that looks at how much progress students make from year to year, Dublin earned an A.

On the new report cards, valued added was also divided into three groups that measure the yearly academic progress of gifted students, disabled students and the lowest performing 20 percent of students. Dublin City Schools received B's in each of the categories.

Another new addition to the state report card this year is "annual measurable objectives," which drew Dublin City School's lowest grade, a "D."

The new state measurement replaces "adequate yearly progress" and measures the achievement gap between 10 different subgroups of students, including multi-racial students, Hispanic students, economically disadvantaged students and students with limited English proficiency.